A 34-year-old Amarillo man was arrested Thursday for making nine threatening calls to police dispatchers and telling them he would “put a bullet between anybody’s eyes if they attempted to violate the law and my rights,” officials say.

Earle Melverly Bishop is facing one charge of telephone harassment, a class B misdemeanor, according to court records.

[post_ads]According to an arrest warrant filed in Bexar County, Bishop called a non-emergency police line around 11 p.m. March 20 to complain about the arrest of a gun rights activist in February or early March.

Video of the arrest has captured the attention of gun rights activists statewide, along with footage from a separate incident this week in which police forcibly arrested CJ Grisham, president of Open Carry Texas.

During the one minute and 15 second conversation, Bishop told a dispatcher that if officers “continued to act outside of the law it was an act of Treason and punishable by Death,” the warrant states. The dispatcher told him to contact officials at the Olmos Park City Hall during normal business hours.

During the next seven minutes, Bishop called dispatchers four other times, officials say. Several times, dispatchers told him he was tying up resources and disconnected the call.

“If you hang up on me again, I’m going to file charges against you under the act of Treason which is punishable by Death. Do you understand me?” Bishop said during the second call, according to the warrant.

The dispatcher again told Bishop that she had to attend to other calls. “I don’t (expletive) care,” Bishop allegedly said.

During later calls, Bishop told dispatchers that Olmos Park Police Chief Rene Valenciano should be placed under a citizen’s arrest for treason, the warrant states. He also said he could kill an officer acting unlawfully “in cold blood and nobody could do anything about it because he violated the law first,” the warrant states.

“Personally myself, I own a .50 caliber Desert Eagle,” Bishop said, according to the records. “You come at me I blow your (expletive) brains out. I don’t care.”

At the end of the final conversation, which lasted 16 minutes and 11 seconds, Bishop apologized to the dispatcher and told her to have a lovely day. He then called her a derogatory epithet, the warrant states.[post_ads_2]In total, officials say Bishop called the non-emergency line nine times — four of which were not answered because dispatchers were busy.

The following day, a sergeant with the Olmos Park Police Department began investigating the phone calls and tracked the number to Bishop.

The sergeant said he called the number and it went to voicemail, which identified Bishop. The following week, he was arrested.

Emilie Eaton is a San Antonio Express-News staff writer. Read more of her stories here. | eeaton@express-news.net | @emilieeaton